Britain’s happiness rating rubs off on new migrants

The majority of migrants moved from countries with a lower average level of happinessSTEVE PARSONS/PA

Migrants enjoy significantly higher levels of wellbeing and satisfaction with life if they move to a “happier” country, research shows.

If they move to somewhere with lower rates of happiness they become more miserable, according to the World Happiness Report, which ranked 156 countries based on the happiness of their citizens. Britain, which held its place as the world’s 19th happiest country from last year, illustrated the pattern.

The overwhelmingly majority of migrants moved from countries with a lower average level of happiness. After settling, their average happiness rose to 7.57 on a scale of 1-10, close to the average of the host population of 7.65.

Among the far smaller number who moved from countries that ranked higher in the happiness index — Australia, New Zealand,…